[Jestor]

"And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,"
-T.S. Eliot "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Just before the draft, I release a notice to each of the 24 clubs and the media that all coaches and scouts that have been hired will be fired, and all scouting and coaching left to the managers of the teams. It has been the stance taken by most organizations as of late, and after much thought, I have agreed with it. It allows one to get a more accurate depiction of who is considered good, and allows everyone to more or less be on the same playing field.

That done, we now turn to the very first draft of the WBL, a dispersal draft that will determine the fate of the teams for the initial years. Since nothing is known about the teams and I've ordered the general managers to be tight-lipped about their preferences, nobody has any idea who will be among the first players picked.

There do seem to be two players who stand out as the consensus top pair in the draft, however:

Jon "The Big Cat" Shunko
A 32-year old CF, he hits well for contact, has Hall-of-Fame type power, has an extremely good eye, average running speed, and good base stealing ability. He's also an exceptional fielder at all 3 outfield positions and has an average throwing arm. The only real downfall is that he's demanding a $22.2 million dollar a year salary.

and the other member of the half:

Charles "Wild Card" Dabney
24 years old, this RF is considered the darling of those who favour building a team based on youth. He's a good hitter, is great at hitting the long, has HoF quality eyes, and is average at avoiding the K. He has good running speed and terrific bunting ability and is already arguably the finest right fielder in the game at this young age, with topnotch range, ballhandling, and throwing arm.

Let us see then, how the first round shakes out. Only the first round will be covered, by the way.

1. Boise: RF Charles "Wild Card" Dabney
Boise, who won the first pick via the lottery, picks up one of the two consensus top picks in Dabney. Expect him to be The Franchise for a long time.

2. Dover: P Juan "The Freak" Reyes
A bit of a surprise pick, the 34-year old SP from Mexico is one of the better pitchers in the draft, with perfect stuff and good strikeout ability. The knock on him is that he gives up the bomb a little more than a player drafted this high should be.

3. Richmond: P Waldo Selzer
30 years old, this SP likely would have been my pick if I were choosing a pitcher first. While not quite as good at avoiding runs and hits as Juan, his tougher stance against the longball and his Hallish ability to strike men out give him the nod over the #2 pick. In addition, he's 4 years younger and comes at a cheaper salary.

4. San Diego: CF Jon "The Big Cat" Shunko
Shunko avoids dropping out of the top 5 as San Diego snatches him up. I'm still shaking my head over that Dover pick. Reyes over Selzer? That's still a stupid move in my estimation. That aside, San Diego has picked up one of the top players in the draft. Nice one.

5. Little Rock: SS Terrence Farnsworth
At 27 years old, this SS isn't a bad pick. He's got phenomenal range, terrific power, and good speed. Drawbacks are that despite the speed he's only average at swiping bases, average at the plate, and is error-prone, thus slightly negating the range. Not sure if I would have taken him this high.

6. Washington D.C.: CF Ovidio Perez
Another 27-year old, he's got Hall type power and eye and hits slightly above average. Good base-stealing ability as well. He's average on defense, though and his throwing arm is suspect. Still, I'd have to say this is a solid pick, all in all.

7. Nasvhille: RF Lenard Gomez
A poor man's Perez is many respects. He does everything Perez does, but is just a notch below him in most of those areas. One point where he does trump Perez over is in throwing arm, where he has a cannon. Good choice.

8. Calgary: LF Gregory Hallett
This might well be a better choice than either Perez or Gomez. While average for contact, he's fantastic at hitting the round-tripper and exceptional at drawing the walk. He's also got good speed and base-stealing ability, and is stellar on defense at both corners of the outfield. His throwing arm is poor, however.

9. Orlando: 3B Hugh Haslam
If this were a Northern League team, I'd say this would be an absolutely brilliant pick for a DH, but this is a Southern League team, so I have to say this isn't so smart a move. While he's good for average, and has HoF power, he can't run, can't steal the bases, and more importantly, is an error-prone sieve at the hot corner. At least he's only 24, so he has room to improve.

10. Seattle: P Jeffery Hassel
29 years old and just a very good all-around pitcher. Good at everything, but not great in any particular area, he makes a passable ace, but is probably better suited as a number 2 pitcher in my estimation.

11. Laramie: 3B Robt Astle
Everything that's true about Haslam applies for this Ozzie, except that he's 4 years older at 28, and has slightly better range. On the bright side, Laramie *is* a Northern League team, so this makes more sense from a DH standpoint.

12. Boston: SS Jose Castaneda
Average for contact, Hall for power, and slightly above average at getting walks, his biggest appeal after his power is his age, at 25. He's got average running ability and average range and defense. Not a bad pick, but not a great one either as we're at the halfway point of the 1st round.

13. Tulsa: RF Eugene "The Savior" Harte
Eh, I would definitely not call this call the Savior. 28 years old, he's another above average contact, Hall style power, and just above average eye. He can't run very fast, but he's crafty enough to do well at swiping bases. Defensively, his range is god-awful on both outfield corners, but he almost never will make an error.

14. St. Louis: P Henry Hoeppner
This late in the first round, I really like this pick and even go so far as to call it something of a small steal. While 3 years older than Hassel at 32, he's also a little better than Hassel in every area but endurance, where he's only average.

15. Lexington: RF Richard Baker
27 years old, he doesn't have as good a power as the run of OFs a few picks ago, but otherwise follows that vein of somewhat above average contact, good power, slightly above average eye. The key difference? He's phenomenal in the outfield, with perfect range and great glove. Also has a decent arm.

16. New Orleans: CF David "Pearl" Cheesman
Don't ask me how a guy with the name of Cheesman got the nickname Pearl. This guy *is* a bit of a gem though, with slightly above average contact, good power, and good eye. A fast runner with fantastic base-stealing ability, he's got average range and a sticky glove in the outfield, along with a poor arm. Still at 25, I have to say this is a pretty damn solid pick.

17. Monterrey: CF Timmy Smith
How dare a Tim let himself be called Timmy! Especially at 29 years old! That makes me instantly dislike him, though to be fair, he's a better hitter than the Pearl, with power on par as the early group run of OFs selected. Good speed and base-stealing ability with average range, defense, and throwing arm. The first truly professional Mexican baseball team could certainly have done a lot worse with their first-ever draft pick.

18. Waco: RF Tony Lamarche
32 years old with the same slightly above average contact, Hall-worthy power, and just above average eye as the first run on OFs. With average speed and above average ability to steal bases, he's also got good range in the OF and will be a perennial Diamond Glove favourite. If not for his age, he would have gone much higher, I think. My favourite of the late picks so far.

19. Tucson: LF Devin "Oyster" Coggin
I love the city of Tucson, but I hate this 28 year-old pick. While a good hitter in all 3 vital areas, he can't run, can't steal bases, and can't play defense worth a damn. Throw into that the fact that this is a Southern League team, and you've got quite possibly the stupidest pick of the first round by my estimation.

20. Chicago: P Scott Dickerman
27 years old and good but not great at everything excepting getting strikeouts, where he's not even good, but average. I don't like this guy as a potential ace at all, but then, I love the strikeout kings. A good 2 or 3 starter, there's no way in hell I'd take him this high unless the pitching pool was that diluted that I had no choice.

21. Montgomery: SS James Schubert
Just above average contact, top of the line power, and great eye, but with awful range and atrocious defense. His speed is average, but his veteran status makes him a master at stealing bases. 31 years old, he's an okay pick I guess, but that shoddy a range at SS is just asking for trouble.

22. Providence: P John Trotter
Everything that's true about Dickerman applies to Trotter, including age.

23. Minneapolis: P Matias Arrendondo
Another clone of Dickerman and Trotter, except that he's a year younger at 26, and is deemed to have still some potential at turning into a decent strikeout pitcher. Based on that, I would have drafted him before the other two.

24. Charleston: P Thomas Lor
29 years old, he's also good at everything except for a coule of key differences: One, he's a strikeout monster, two he gives up the long ball an awful lot. Still, I'll take the feast or famine aspect and choose him over the three clone pitchers taken before him. Nice pick by Charleston.

And there's your first round!

Anybody think this year's Silver Bat or Emerald Ball will come out of this first round, and if so, who?